When we work with artists across music publicity campaigns, especially since #quarantinelife started, we had to shift our approach to amplifying the reach of every music release. The audience for new music has never been as eager and active as it now. In the absence of live touring and that in-person contact music fans would normally be able to access, we’re all looking to social media and the internet to fill the void.
If it’s all a bit overwhelming to think about, us Bees have got you covered with some key tips to bolster your profile game coming out of iso-life.
Rethinking Your Profile
The tricky part about incorporating social media into a music release (or music publicity) plan is knowing how to tackle it, especially if you’re not on it all the time. How many times do you need to post? When do you need to post? Do links work better than images? Should you be streaming daily?
The big thing to remember is that it’s totally fine if you don’t know! Each campaign is different, so think about your social media approach in the same way. Once the opportunities to perform live and get back to normal arise, you’ll want to be on your A Game and your social media presence is going to be a big part of this being a successful transition from iso to live.
When it comes to your ‘brand’ and how it is presented to your followers, it’s a good time to think about how you yourself connect to it. A big part of our job as music publicists is to introduce people to this brand and your unique identity, so it is important that your social media network reflects this identity strongly.
Are you a big visuals person, or are words more your thing? Is your band’s social media platform meme-friendly, or is it more straight edge? Regardless of your answer, once you know the direction you want your platforms to go down (could be a funny Twitter bio, an ongoing series of Instagram TV sessions…), you can build from there.
Find different ways to bring people to your page, whether it be exploring other music pages yourself and discovering new music you like. Connect with potential collaborators and cultivate networks that way, that will drive people back to your own pages.
Get The Conversation Started
Sometimes it is easy to forget the ultimate role of social media. It’s all about engagement. And when we say ‘engagement’, we mean engagement past click-and-scroll content. A big part of building your audience is talking to them and what better way to form this connection than through Q&As, giveaways or watch parties?
The pandemic has made us all more digitally dependent (whether we like it or not), so it’s been a good time to keep connected online through Zooms, Hangouts, Skypes…whatever works. This can be a great advantage to you as you restart momentum for upcoming new releases and potential music publicity campaigns online.
Get your fans involved in online discussions with purpose, let them know what music you’re listening to, the causes you’re following and championing. Imprint yourself onto their radars enough that a month or so down the line when you enter your next campaign, the ground work has already been done.
Dive Into Your Analytics
Bear with me, I know we’re going into data territory.
A great tool to see where your posts are hitting and where you’re getting visits from, the analytics system of any social media platform is handy to use frequently in determining your audience.
If you’ve used Spotify For Artists, it’s a similar vibe – you can find and access breakdowns on where your audience is tuning in/visiting from. In some cases you can determine the times of day that are more popular for your posts, and the age demographic of the people who are checking out your content.
Because a lot of us are on work from home duties, people are likely to be online more across the whole day and into the evening so why not experiment with when you post? Try some nighttime content.
Another simpler way to find out the sort of people who are following you is to well, check them out. Dedicate some time to clicking on their profiles, and finding out more about them. Do they follow similar artists? Do you share common interests? Often you’ll be able to see patterns pop up.
Keep It Short and Sweet
Think about how you use Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. How much time do you think you spending aimlessly scrolling your newsfeeds? Keep this in mind when tailoring your own channels.
People are less likely to engage with huge blocks of text, so it helps to bring clarity and conciseness to your posts. Short sentences and choice selection of words. You can do this without losing your natural voice but remember, you can do a lot more with less when it comes to online networking.
This goes for video content as well. Think about the message you want to convey. How can you best do this in 15 seconds or less? What images would represent you and your tone best? If the content is sharp enough and presented in the best way, the viewer will spend more time looking into you.
Use Your Time Wisely
We can’t spend all day on social media and have a 100% hit rate with every single thing that gets posted. Use your time to schedule your posts and content so that you have content going up a certain time apart.
If you set a precedent for yourself by posting hourly over the span of a few weeks, then go AWOL because you’re in studio, there’s a good chance you’ll fade from the fore of your fans’ minds. Similarly, if you post once every six months, you’ve got to ask yourself if you really need the account.
Going by the above tips, your posts should reflect what you have got going on; even in periods of inactivity – music wise – you can still be present, giving fans an insight into how life off-cycle is treating you. Are you working on new music? Offer a behind the scenes look.
Quality over quantity is key here.
To Livestream Or Not To Livestream?
Livestreaming has been an integral part of how music has been consumed during lockdown. It can be a great addition to your social media arsenal, but if it’s not done correctly, it can often turn people off.
The first thing you need to think of is if you actually want to do it. It’s definitely a popular option but if you don’t have the setup you’d ideally want, or if you can’t deliver the sort of show you’d ideally want to in this format, don’t feel the pressure to livestream.
If you do decide to go down this route, don’t rush into it. Figure out the best time for it to be broadcast and how you would promote it in the lead up. Think of it like an actual gig – how would you normally get people hooked in on social media to hit ‘Attending’ and actually rock up?
The great thing about livestreamed performances is that they can be edited afterward, so you can repurpose the content at different times – another reason you want all your ducks in a row before doing it.
If we have learned anything from creative life in isolation, it’s that using online tools to keep the momentum of any new endeavour going is key. And it’s easy enough to do, if you know how.